Friends Reunited
by anja-boyce
Summary: Kat is returning to her hometown town after a year at Sara Lawrence....she comes back realising that she is a different person and that the people she once used to trust have changed also. Please read and reveiw!
1. Default Chapter

Chapter 1

As Kat drove down the street she grew up in, everything was the same. She couldn't help thinking it was the same people doing the same things as before. The last time she had been driving her car down this road had been a year ago. She had waved good-bye to her father as he shouted something about "those college kids" and "condoms". Her sister had stood next to her first boyfriend their father would allow and she had her new man Patrick at her side.

They had been talking about their future. She was going to Sara Lawrence College and Patrick had decided to stay where he was. Kat rolled her eyes as she remembered the argument they had in the car.

" I'll be back soon!" Kat had exclaimed.

"Yeah right…here I'll be, stuck in this hell whole of a town while you're away living it up in the other side of America."

She sighed. "You know that's not true. I'm going there to study, not to get pissed."

Patrick raised his eyebrow at her, remembering the part in their final year when Kat had done a tabletop dance for their fellow students!

"You know I'm not a big one for these pathetic parties at high school, never mind socializing with those rich, Joey like assholes whose Daddies bought their way to college, just for them to drink their nights away, and get laid!"

Patrick laughed, "You sound more and more like your father everyday!"

Their argument seemed to be over and they were approaching his house. As she pulled up outside they both looked at each other. They wondered how long it would be until they saw each other again.

"You better be back for Halloween,"

"I'll be back before then." She replied. He stroked her cheek lightly.

"What ever am I going to do without you to put me down? Phone me when you get to Sara Lawrence. I want to know what everything is like!" He opened the car door and pecked her on the cheek. Saying goodbye was something he was used to as his parents where constantly travelling; however this was different. He'd never felt this sad over anyone and didn't like it. Trying to remember who he was, he gave her a sly wink and walked to the door to his house. He didn't want her to notice his eyes were watering. How unmanly?

Kat watched as he sexily swaggered towards the door. Admiring his messy hair and the leather jeans she had become so fond of. Her stomach felt unsettled. Something didn't feel right. It wasn't a proper goodbye. As she drove down the street she consoled herself with the knowledge that she'd be back in a few months and would be phoning him all the time.

That was almost a year ago and now there she was again, however driving in a different direction. Things had started out well; they had been on the phone every night and sometimes even twice a day. However Kat gradually got more and more into her college life. Things were different there. The people were more interesting. There were loads of her favourite bands to go and see and if the truth were told she was having the time of her life. However there was always a thought at the back of her mind of what was going on at home. Patrick had stopped calling her so much. The phone calls went from weekly to monthly and it soon got weird to even talk on the phone.

She felt herself avoiding telling him everything that was going on. She didn't want to tell him that she had tried coke for her first time. She didn't want to tell him that she had a brilliant male friend called Steve. And ten months into her days there she didn't want to tell him that on one drink and drugs fuelled night her "friend" Steve and her had relations.

Steve was different from Patrick. Things were simpler with him. Sex was sex. And that was all. Nothing more, nothing deeper. To be truthful, it had been the thrill of the randomness of it all. One minute they were dancing at one of the dorm parties, and in the next flash all she could remember was being in someone's room. Where Patrick gently slid her clothes and looked in her eyes, Steve had tore at her clothes and enjoyed her assets. The whole experience felt wrong and wild. As they tore each other's clothes off there wasn't a thought to Steve's girlfriend Alicia or Patrick.


	2. Look what the Kat dragged in

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from 10 things I hate about you

Chapter 2

Her stomach was unsettled for an entirely different reason this car journey. She wondered how it would be to see him again. She hadn't even spoken to him in four months. She was worried she wouldn't be able to meet his eyes. Her guilt was tearing her apart although she didn't even know if they were still together.

Thinking it would be nice to buy him a present for their reunion together, she stopped at the car park, and saw a very familiar car parked. She chuckled. "Ah, Joey, long time no see." Still the same tank tops, tanned body and trade mark sunglasses. He walked with confidence. Nothing had changed. A sudden thought came to her that she must talk to him.

"Hey Joey, how's it going?"

He jumped slightly taken aback at seeing his old enemy. She smiled. A lot had changed about her in the past year. Somehow their past encounters didn't seem so important. 

Joey had regained his usual composure. " Well, looky looky what the Kat dragged in!" He eyed her up and down. "Back in town for some Joey lovin'?"

"You'll only ever dream," she replied briskly with a sly smile.

He sniggered. "So how's life been treating you? Drove into anyone cars lately? Set your sister upon any innocent young men?"

"No, I only do that to men I really like. I'm telling you, it's a love hate thing!" she said sarcastically but gave him a sly smile. Okay, why did she find herself flirting with Joey? A part of her felt that if he wanted her again it would be revenge for the old days.

Their eyes met and she saw a smug little smile in them. He knew her game. That moment a leggy blond walked out of the mall. She linked arms with Joey. 

"Hey, hon.!" Joey looked at Kat with a menacing smirk. "Well, as always, it's been a pleasure! Umm….you can see I've got stuff to do here." He eyed his latest victim. She was still at school, but looked twice her age.

The girl looked at Kat, obviously confused at why Joey would be talking to someone dressed in combats. Hand in hand they headed off, she was giggling at something he'd said in awe. Kat rolled her eyes. "Yip", she thought, "same old Joey" She wondered if there would always be some girl around who was foolish enough to lose her innocence to Joey.

Pissed off, she headed back to her car forgetting about Patrick's present. When she turned around, someone by her car jolted her heart slightly. There, leaning on her car, with his curly hair shorter but wearing the same black, leather trousers was the boy she'd thought she had fallen in love with last year. He stood there with a knowing smile on his face. And once again she couldn't herself but to go running back to his arms. He smelt of Armani and leather, with a hint of cigarette smoke. She took a deep breath. Home again.

Okay, thanks for reading the rest of my story. The next chapter will be up soon, that's of course if you r interested!!


	3. An old friend

Disclaimer: Yeah, whatever, see the other chapters!

Chapter 3

The next day, Kat woke to the sound of her old alarm clock. She stretched looking around at her old room. Her guitar sat dusty in the corner. She remembered the day when Patrick had given her that. She couldn't believe she forgot to take it to Sara Lawrence with her! She walked over to it and delicately touched the strings. She almost felt like she had forgotten how to play. "Hey" Bianca burst into her room. With a jump, Bianca put down the guitar. 

"So, what are you doing today?" she slumped herself down on her sisters bed, picking up a picture of her friends from Sara Lawrence. "Hey, he's pretty cute." Kat snatched the photograph off of her quickly.

"Just hanging around." She said glumly. Last night hadn't been weird with Patrick at all. He said that he was just giving her space to enjoy her time in Sara Lawrence and that was why he hadn't phoned much. She could not have felt any guiltier. Her thoughts were interrupted by her sister once more.

She was laughing at another photograph of Bianca and her mates. "Who is this guy? He is so fit! Kat you look absolutely gone there! How drunk were you?"

"Bianca, if you're going to be nosey, can't you just leave my room. Maybe I don't want you touching my property."

"Okay, alright," Bianca edged out of the room. "I see some things never change. Once a bitch, always a bitch" Kat cursed her sister and slammed the door. She had been looking at a picture of her and Steve the night they had slept together. She ripped up the photo and binned it. Kat didn't like what she had become while at college. She never used to drink that much before. Only on the odd occasion would she get drunk. She especially didn't take drugs. She only thought that was for ass holes. Where had her real personality gone? She had completely forgotten about her guitar. She hadn't drawn or painted in ages and she barely opened a book the whole year, only for last night cramming before exams.

She looked down at her photo of Patrick. She had hardly looked at that all year either. Last night, he had booked tickets for them to go to her favorite club. The old band she used to like were playing. As she moved to the music, she felt his arms around her. She pretended it was last year. She hadn't cheated on him. She hadn't told him lies and she was still the same girl as before. He had kissed her forehead as she left the car that night. He knew something was wrong with her, but didn't know of her betrayal.

"Okay," she thought to herself. "Tonight, I am going out!" It was time to see everyone again. Well, the few real friends she had had. She couldn't wait to see Mandela. She could tell her everything. Nothing between them would have changed. Mandela's phone just rang out. She guessed she would just try her later. She began to think who else to phone. She got out her old address book. Flicking through it, she saw the name of an old school friend. They had stopped being friends when Kat and Joey had slept together. Kat bit her lip and laughed. They had been so young. Both of them had been obsessed by Joey. They used to believe he was the only guy for them. While they both shared this passion, their relationship ended when Kat realized her dream. No matter how many times Kat had tried to explain she didn't like him, Natalie had never forgiven her. 

Deciding it was time to seal the gap, she dialed her parent's house number. Natalie's mother answered. She was pleased to hear from Kat, exclaiming "Natalie, Its Kat on the phone for you!" This eased Kat's nerves a little. 

Natalie answered the phone with a bland tone. "What?"

"Hey, It's Kat," she said delicately.

"And?"

"And, I thought we could meet up to discuss old times" Kat said warily.

"Why would I want to do that, bitch," Kat swiftly started smiling. She could tell by Natalie's tone that she had been jesting before and she was finally over her grudge "Hey, I was only kidding. Am glad you phoned. I've been wondering about you."

They talked for ages about everything old friends talk about. Kat was glad for finally having someone that she could tell everything to. The bond between them was as strong as ever. She told her all about Patrick and Steve. Natalie told her not too worry about it. She told her that everyone goes a little bit insane in first year. "Hey, lets go out tonight!" said Kat.

"Yeah, definitely. We havn't been out together for ages." With that they hung up the phone to go get ready. Kat was excited about the night. It was good to have an old friend back.

***************

Okay, I know nothing really happens in this chapter, but it is going somewhere. Review it all the same. Go on, press the little review button. You know you want to.

Thanks for you reviews by the way. I wouldn't be so sure that Joey wouldn't flirt with Kat again. And as for the whole characters not being the same thing. I think people do change a little after they go to college. But please tell me more of this stuff cause it helps!


	4. Kat and Nat

Chapter 4

They're night out began at Kats house. Natalie came round about six o'clock and for the next three hours, they got dressed up for their night out while they managed to drink the best part of three bottles of wine between them. Kat was having a brilliant time with her old friend. It was weird they had both changed so much but still seemed to be on the same wave length.

Before going out Kat tried phoning Mandella again and again but no one answered the phone. She was slightly upset by this. Although she was having an excellent time with Natalie, she would have liked to see Mandella as well. After all, it had been a year since they last met up. Exasperated, she sent her about three text messages. There was still no reply. "Oh well, " Kat thought. She'd just have to have a good without her. 

She had been a bit worried about her two friends meeting up again anyway. Before Kat and Natalie fell out, she hadn't known Mandella. Well, she had known who she was but they didn't speak. It was strange, Mandella had been in all of her classes but they never said two words to each other. Back in those days they were referred to as the terrible two, Kat and Nat. That was when she cared about being popular. When they became good friends, Mandella had confided in Kat that her and Natalie never really got on. Kat guessed it was because they were so different.

After trying to phone Mandella for the fifth time she slammed down the phone. Natalie jumped a little and raised an eyebrow at her.

"I can't believe Mandella hasn't tried to contact me since I've been back. I hope something's not wrong."

Natalie rolled her eyes. "I don't know why you care"

"Nat, that's a bit harsh, we are really god friends."

"Yeah I know, I'm sure she is a lovely person, she was just never much fun!!" 

Kat decided not to continue the conversation. They had just made friends again and she was wary of the fact that the alcohol in her could make her argumentative.

She poured them both a shot of peach schnapps. "To a brilliant night!!"

The gulped down the drink and both could feel the warmth of their cheeks getting stronger. Natalie gave her a funny look and giggled.

"What?" Kat said.

"Nothing" Natalie was stifling giggles down.

Kat grabbed the bottle of wine. "Okay, no more wine for you, young lady unless you tell me what you're laughing at!"

"I was just wondering if Joey was any good in bed." They both burst out laughing. It felt good to be speaking about the thing that had made them fall out in such jovial terms. It showed that they could become friends again.

Later that evening they were going to one of the busier clubs in town. Kat was really excited because she knew that it would be full of people she used to know. On approaching the door, they both linked arms in a failed attempt to look sober. The bouncers on the door looked at them and laughed. While opening the doors for them to go in, they wished them a good night. "So far, so good, " thought Kat.

From there on the night was a blur. It was really cool that the terrible two were back together. Natalie was a total riot to go out with and Kat could tell that they had many good nights ahead of them. They danced. They drank more. They chatted to old friends. However, just as Kat thought everything was going well she stumbled into a nasty surprise. As she danced her way over to the bar for another vodka and cranberry juice, she almost died of shock when she saw two familiar faces standing at the bar talking to each other. Kat assessed the situation. "Okay, " she told herself. "Don't over react. You're to good at doing that" They appeared to be out alone. There was no one else around them who Kat recognised to be friends of theirs. However they didn't seem to be acting like a couple. Just as Kat was thinking this, the boy put out an arm to cuddle the other girl. Kat was furious. She stormed over to where they were and tapped Patrick's shoulder as he stood with his back turned to her embracing Mandella. The two people in the world she thought she could trust had betrayed her. 

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

Cheers once again for all of your reviews. I feel like it's been a while since I have written anything for this story but I don't plan on leaving it so long next time. Hope every one had a very merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!XX ;)


	5. old friends, new enemies!

Chapter 5

It was early morning, Kat could tell. An orange glow feel over the carpet and all was quiet outside. She was in a strange room and was confused at first. Then the previous night came flooding back to her in an unwanted rush, Mandella and Patrick's betrayal, her drunkenly dancing with Joey, and eventually leaving with him. Kat grumbled loudly, breaking the morning silence. Her life felt so messy.

She turned and faced the person in bed next to her. For once Joey was silent, as he slept like a baby. She studied his handsome face and thought how innocent he looked when asleep. It was no wonder Natalie and Kat had fell for his charms all those years ago. Deciding she needs water, Kat peels herself off of the bed.

Her head is pounding and the room is fuzzy from last nights alcohol. A sadness waves over her as she remembers her encounter with Mandella and Patrick. When she had approached Patrick and tapped his shoulder, he had spun around and looked at her as if he had done nothing wrong! He had such a cheek. Mandella, however, looked sad, like maybe she felt guilty for doing this to her friend.

"Well, it sure is good to be back."

She looked from one to the other, waiting for a response then laughed aloud when they did not reply. She was seething inside but told herself to keep calm.

"Isn't this a pretty sight? My boyfriend and best friend together. I should have known not to trust you Patrick, I mean you've lied to me from day one of our relationship, but you, Mandella…."

"Now, hang on a minute," Patrick interrupted. "I think you've got the wrong idea here…."

"The wrong idea? Don't give me that crap. I should have known better. You were always jealous of me, Mandella. You couldn't stand it when I was more pretty and popular than you. And now the two people I thought I had trusted are doing this to me."

Then Mandella spoke for the first time, her voice shaking a little. "Me, jealous of you? No, all I have ever been was a good friend. I don't deserve this." Mandella stormed away to the toilets, leaving Patrick and Kat facing each other.

"Do you know what, I'm starting to think that maybe you are not the girl for me. If something had happened between me and Mandella, it should be of no surprise to you." He looked intensely at Kat. She felt hurt at his confirmation that something had happened, and for once she was silent.

"I mean, c'mon Kat, what do you expect? You leave town, and we don't hear from you for months. I don't even feel like you're boyfriend anymore. You've turned into a selfish person. Where has my considerate Kat gone?"

At that, she looked at him calmly and controlled the anger in her voice. "Well, I think that's me finished with this conversation, its getting dull." She looked around the room.

"I wonder if there are any good looking boys in here tonight." Upon saying this her eyes clasped on Joey.

"Ah, he'll do. Have a good night Patrick. I know I will."

With that she walked away. On reflection, in the morning, she thought she handled it well. It is always best to not show weakness or how hurt you are. However, inside, she was surprised by how alone she felt. Nat had urged her that the best way to get over Patrick was to move on to someone else. When Kat was dancing with Joey, Natalie had winked at her and whispered in her ear "I dare you to go home with him."

And so she did, to cover up the pain and to pretend that everything was okay. To pretend that Mandella and Patrick being together had no effect on her and that she wasn't scared that she had lost sight of who she was at college. She left with Joey, telling her drunken self that this was who she was. She didn't need Patrick to feel good. She'd be with anyone she wanted, be it Joey or Steve.

Kats phone began ringing and woke up Joey.

She looked at her phone, and the display told her the caller was home.

"Hello,"

"Kat, where are you?"

It was her father.

"At a friends." She responded.

"Well, a little courtesy would be appreciated! In future let me know where you are."

Her fathers lecture went on for a while and she closed her eyes in a tempt to block it out. Eventually, she hung up the phone on him. She didn't need any of this. She felt like everyone she used to trust had turned her back on her, and ironically, the people who were there for her were her old enemies. She smiled at Joey and crawled back into bed with him.

Its been a long time! But here is the next chapter!


	6. Sisterly love

Chapter 6 

After a long afternoon in bed with Joey Kat headed back to her home. Upon entering the house she was met with astern look from her father.

"Don't start on me. God, you wonder why I never want to come home!"

She threw her keys down on the stairs and ran up to her room to call Natalie. She seemed to be the only person in her life right now who was there to support her. As expected Natalie just laughed as she recounted her experience with Joey last night. As Kat began to tell Nat about their plans to go on a date later in the week she sensed a presence at the doorway. She turned around and was faced with Bianca. She was stood leaning against the wall with her arms folded.

"I'm going to have to go Nat, I'll see you tomorrow." Kat hung up the phone.

"Hey" she said to Bianca tiredly while she slumped on the bed. Bianca was quiet and eyed her. She wasn't looking particularly friendly.

"So its true then?" Bianca eventually said.

"What's true?"

"My mates said they saw you out last night with Joey. To think I never believed them." She rolled her eyes, beginning to look more and more angry.

Kat couldn't understand what her problem was. It is not like she even liked Joey so why couldn't Kat go out with him.

"Oh come on Bianca, grow up. What is the big deal?"

"What is the big deal? You were the one who warned me off of going out with Joey, remember?" Bianca was shouting now. "You know what you've changed. I mean, how could you do that to Patrick, let alone even sleep with that sleaze Joey?"

Silence rung through the air as the two sisters eyed each other. Kat finally stood up and pushed past Bianca in the doorway. "If you think I've changed and you don't like the new me, don't talk to me anymore, and that means you can stop butting in to my affairs which, by the way, are none of your business."

Needing fresh air to help her cool off she decided to go for a walk. Upon passing a coffee house her and Mandela used to go to she decided to go in and get a black coffee. As she pushed the doors open the sight in front of her brought her to an immediate halt. The two people she used to depend on and trust were sat again talking to each other. They seemed relaxed and were laughing. Staring into each other's eyes over the warm glow of the candlelight. For the first time since she had got home Kat felt a tear dropping down her cheek. She felt like everyone was turning their back on her. She quickly turned around and left the coffee house anxious that they might spot her.


	7. Chapter 7

Devastated, she wandered back to her house. Where had it all gone so wrong? She felt so betrayed by Mandella and Patrick, yet she couldn't help but remember Patrick's words that night in the club. Had she brought this all on herself? A thought kept on creeping into her mind about her behaviour for the past year. There were numerous missed calls and emails from Mandella which she didn't always reply to.

One email in particular stood out in her mind. It was the middle of January. The semester was just beginning, and the work load was light, allowing the students to celebrate. Kat was quickly checking her emails before heading to a flat party. She had one from Mandella, simply saying "CALL ME WHEN YOU GET THIS." She'd have to be an idiot to not realise the urgency in the message. Looking at her phone, she realised she also had two missed calls from her. Kat sighed. It had been a few months since they last spoke and Mandella was clearly bothered by this. Exasperated, Kat punched her number into her phone. She had to meet her flat mate in a half hour, but hopefully a quick phone call to Mandella would appease her. Keeping things light hearted, Kat spoke about college and the parties she'd been going to. Mandella remained eerily quiet throughout the phone call. Eventually Kat made her excuses and ended the call. It wasn't her problem that she had a new life now and Mandella couldn't handle it.

Following that phone call, the strength of their friendship seemed to diminish a little. Mandella almost never called her, and Kat was doing the majority of the work to keep their friendship alive, which given how hectic Kats life was, really wasn't that much work. She only remembered to contact her once every few months. Each time it became harder and harder to find things to talk about.

On reflection, they'd been drifting apart for a long time. How had she not realised this before? Her thoughts were interrupted by her mobile phone beeping with a new message. It was from Patrick. Her heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't help but hope that this had all been a misunderstanding, and he was texting to say he still loved her. Deep down, she knew this was simply wishful thinking. The sight of them in the club, in the coffee house and Patricks words the other night all added up to their blatant infidelity. She opened the message, her shaky hands betraying the coolness she was trying to convince herself she felt. The message that filled her mobile screen was further confirmation that she had lost her best friend and the first man that she had ever loved. And that she had never really known them ever.

"Kat, I feel its only fair that I apologise to you. Me and Mandella fell in love just before Christmas. You can't help who you love. I'm sorry this has hurt you."

She read the message a few times, and then deleted it. She also deleted Mandella and Patrick's number from her phone. They were nothing to her anymore and she wasn't going to waste any more of her time back at home thinking about them. It was time to have fun. Her first instinct was to phone Joey. Whether Natalie liked it or not they were both going out that night and she wanted to make certain some man candy would be there! However, Kat was smart enough to know that calling Joey hours after she'd just left his bed was a little bit too forward for him, and would definitely make him run for the hills. Joey liked the chase so she'd just have to hope she bumped into him that night.

Later that evening Kat and Nat were getting some shots lined up for night number two. They were at Kats house and she couldn't help but miss the freedom that came with living away from home. Her dad was furious that she was going out two nights in a row, and her sister was giving her the cold shoulder because of Joey. Some things never change. Except this time it was Kat who was involved with Joey, and Kat who her dad was trying to stop from partying. When they had lost their mother everything changed for Kat, and she felt that she concealed one side of herself. Thinking back on it, those days she had just wanted to hide away from the world, and Mandella had been there to help and support her. She stopped going out as much, and socialising with so many people. Now, she felt like making up for lost time. She was getting some of her life back.

"Here's to another night on the tiles" Kat raised her tequila glass, and chinked with Nat.

They both gulped down the shot and screwed up their faces.

"So, how are you feeling about last night now?" Nat asked as she threw away the lemon she had just sucked on, satisfied that it had killed the taste of the tequila.

"Good, Joey is hot." Kat replied promptly.

"Yeah, but what about Patrick?"

At this question Kat downed a huge gulp of her white wine and swallowed. "I don't care."

"Have you heard from him today?"

Kat was not enjoying this line of questioning. Why did Nat care so much? She didn't even know Patrick all that well. Kat looked at her empty glass and realised she needed a refill quickly.

"Nope" Natalie raised her eyebrow at Kats response.

"Why are you looking like that?"

"I'm not looking like anything, Kat...."

"Why are you so interested in my relationship with Patrick all of a sudden? You didn't seem that concerned last night when I was leaving with Joey? "

Natalie sighed. "Geez, we won't talk about it then. I was just trying to be a good friend and be interested in your life"

************

A bottle of wine and three shots later they both headed out. As they approached the club she couldn't help but notice herself being plenty more drunk than Natalie, which was strange as she thought they'd been drinking on a par to each other. She shrugged it off, realising that maybe she had been drinking a little too fast. Remarkably, they got past the door stewards again. These guys were either blind stupid or didn't care if drunken women were in their club.

Standing at the bar she spotted Joey beside a group of his friends. She waved over at him, and he gave her a quick wink. She was excited about the night ahead. Tonight was going to be much better than last night. She was now officially single, and free to do whatever she liked. The music, however, wasn't particularly to her taste. She still loved the rock music she had grown up worshipping. As she watched Natalie dancing to a chirpy pop song with nonsense lyrics she rolled her eyes, and realised that she missed playing her guitar. She passed Natalie her drink and felt a little out of place. Maybe the alcohol was wearing off, but she couldn't remember how to dance to this rubbish. Determined to have a good night and forget about Patrick, she kept on drinking.

Two hours later she was stumbling through the crowd. The night wasn't going according to plan at all. A half hour ago she had a not so pleasant encounter with Joey at the bar. She had spotted him standing at the bar and thought it'd be a smart idea to go talk to him. Trying to be as aloof as possible she had slid through people at the bar to get to where he was standing. Completely oblivious to the dirty looks she was getting she had shoved a girl a little out of the way who was standing to the right of him.

"Hi Joey... Long time no see" She winked at him. At this point the barmaid was delivering him his drinks and change.

He smiled. "Yeah, last night was fun. I'll catch you later on." He turned around to escape, and Kat grabbed his arm to stop him simultaneously making him spill half his drink on himself. He scowled.

"Good going Kat! Wow, you really are still a freak!" And then he walked away, leaving Kat looking and feeling like an idiot. At this point things started to feel really hazy. She laughed out loud to show she didn't really care about Joey despite the fact that no one around her was even paying attention. Pushing her way back through the crowd with another drink in hand she found Natalie, and demanded she get on the dance floor. She may not be enjoying the music, but she wanted Joey and Patrick if he was anywhere watching, to think she was having a good time.

The next hour really was a blur. She had lost Natalie when she started dancing with some random guy. He wasn't exactly her type but he would do. Feeling extremely light on her feet she had suggested that the two of them sat down as she didn't think she could dance any longer without falling. He started to kiss her despite her claiming she was feeling sick. A moment of clarity struck her when she looked up at this strange man and realised he really wasn't remotely attractive. She had to get away from him, and go home. She stood up immediately not caring to explain to the strange man why. She had to find Natalie first who had her cloakroom ticket. By this point the nightclub was really dark, the music was pulsing, and the smoke machine was making it even more difficult to see anything. Until, that is, when she saw horrific sighting number two. A second betrayal, but this time from the two people she should have most expected it to come from. Joey and Natalie were standing to the side of the dance floor, doing what her dad would have best described as canoodling. At this sight the room really did begin to spin. She all at once felt hot and dizzy and fell to the floor. As the shock and alcohol all brought her closer to the ground she felt two arms reaching out to cushion her fall. Lying on the floor she looked up to see Bianca, and felt a flood of tears escaping her. Her little sister hugged her.

"Kat, you are a mess. I need to get you home" She had never been so grateful and comforted to see her little sister before. She fully agreed that she had to leave but her jacket cloakroom ticket was with the last person in the world she wanted to speak to right now. That was when she spotted Natalie's trademark pink bag on a table nearby. She decided to fetch it herself, and prevent the happy couple from being interrupted. As she opened the bag she couldn't help but notice the same mobile phone that she had sent to Patrick for Christmas. Confused, she hadn't noticed Natalie had this phone previously, she flipped the phone open. The screen background was a picture of Patrick and Kat in happier days. Why would Natalie have this phone? She opened the messages to see if this was definitely Patricks. She found there in his inbox a message which made everything much clearer to her. She couldn't believe what a fool she had been to be so quick to trust Natalie. There, in Patricks inbox was a message from Kats own mobile number which she had no recollection of sending simply because it wasn't from her. The message status showed that it had been sent the previous night before they had headed out. Natalie must have done this when Kat had left the room. Kat was horrified as she read the message.

"Patrick, I think we both know things have been over for a long time. I've got to be honest with you. I've hooked up with a guy at college, and I think its love. You can't help who you love. Please don't try to speak to me again."

** Can't believe I actually got round to writing the next chapter of this. Ha ha. It has been about three years! Will be posting the next chapter in a week. **


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